“This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has revived me.” — Psalm 119:50 (BSB)

The Shared Experience of Affliction
Affliction is no stranger. It walks the roads we travel—sometimes hidden in the shadows, sometimes sitting plain at our table. And it comes to all. To the wise and the weary, to the rich and the poor, to the new believer and the aged saint. “The heart knows its own bitterness” (Proverbs 14:10), and there is no insulation from sorrow in this broken world. But here stands the question that pierces deeper than the pain: Where is your comfort?

David knew affliction well. Yet, he speaks not only of “my affliction,” but of “my comfort.” And what is it? The Word of God—it had revived him. Not just inspired, not merely instructed, but revived. Quickened. Brought life into his soul when all around him was weary or dark or cold. It’s one thing to feel the sting of suffering; it’s another to be able to say, “I know where to go with it.”

And David knew. He didn’t stumble upon comfort like someone finding water in the desert by chance. He was not like Hagar, who wept beside the very well she could not see (Genesis 21:19). No—David grasped it. “This is my comfort,” he said, as if to hold it in his hand, as if to pray it back to God. He could plead the very Word that had already proven faithful. Has God’s Word revived you in this way?

The Living Word That Revives
There is something wonderfully unique about the comfort that comes from Scripture. It reaches both outward and inward. Outwardly, the Word is rich with promises that fill us with hope. “For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope” (Romans 15:4, BSB). It strengthens our confidence by showing us what God has done before (Psalm 77:5–10), and reminds us of the power that still upholds the world (Ecclesiastes 8:4).

Inwardly, that same Word stirs the soul. It lifts us from spiritual death into life (Psalm 116:8). It shakes us from lethargy (Song of Solomon 6:12). It shepherds us upward, from waywardness to obedience (Psalm 119:67). And today—right now—it is still at work. Making our minds less worldly, drawing our hearts into prayer, softening our spirits, and anchoring our faith in simplicity rather than complexity.

This kind of comfort is not fragile. It doesn’t break under trial. In fact, it shines best in the trial. Look at the context of Psalm 119: “Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have given me hope” (v.49). What hope is this? A Word that breathes life when affliction presses down. A comfort not shaken by delay (v.49), not dulled by scorn (v.51), not paralyzed by the rising tide of wickedness around us (v.53). This Word is a song in every place (v.54) and a light in the darkest night (v.55).

Your Comfort Reveals Your Heart
What you look to for comfort reveals who you are. Some turn to wealth—their peace is tied to their possessions (Luke 12:19). Others chase emotional signs, vague impressions, or fleeting visions. Still others numb themselves in sin—alcohol, pleasure, distraction. Some lean hard on human help, and find it crumbles beneath them (Jeremiah 17:5).

But the child of God says: “Your Word has revived me.” And it keeps doing so. Again and again, it speaks life.

Do you know this revival? Has the Word truly stirred you, deep within? Then take hold of it in every affliction, for it will not fail you. One believer, in the hour of death, once asked only for Scripture: “Speak to me now in Scripture language alone. I can trust the words of God.” There is nothing so sure.

A pastor once visited a dying man and asked how he was. “My head is resting on three pillows,” he said—infinite power, infinite love, and infinite wisdom. When the heart is held there, even in agony, there is rest. One young woman, undergoing a cruel surgery, remembered those words and said to the surgeon, “You may take away my pillows, but you can’t take away those three.” Such is the strength the Word of God gives. It comforts not as the world gives.

There is a peculiar energy in a single verse of Scripture. It’s not like the writings of men—no matter how many volumes. One line from God has more soul-strength than pages upon pages of human wisdom. Why? Because it is truth distilled. Divine truth. It is God’s mind, spoken to man’s heart. And it brings life.

Has it brought life to you? If so, say with David, not just in the quiet, but aloud—“This is my comfort in my affliction: for Your word has revived me.”

Cross References for Meditation:
Romans 15:4 – “For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction…”
Isaiah 50:4 – “The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples…”
2 Corinthians 1:3–4 – “The God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles…”
Psalm 119:93 – “I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me.”